Cigarette dispenser and lighter



F. c. COPELAND 1,793,063

CIGARETTE DISPENSER AND LIGHTER Feb. 17, 1931.

Fild Jan. 30, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1r INVEN'FbE Mae BY I M {W 4 ATTORNEYS.

F. c. COPELAND 1,793,063

CIGARETTE DISPENSER AND LIGHTER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 17, 1931 Filed Jan. 30, 1929 .HT I ZZ' .HMH W INVENTOR.

BY 2 5: ATQRNEYS.

Patented Feb. 17, 1931 PA -am- OFFICE.

ramcrs o. cornmnn, or sex raancrsco, earn-am crea'anr'rn nrsrnnsna m men'rna Application filed January 80, 1928. Serial No. 386,148.

My present invention relates to a smokers appliance'and more particularly to an improved type of dispensing and lighting mechanism which isan improvement upon the device disclosed in my prior pending application Serial Number 235,168, filed November 23, 1927.

The main object of my invention is to provide a smokers appliance which is capable In of dispensing and automatically lighting the cigarette or the like as it is dischar ed; and

w ich device is in such form that 1t is' particularly well suited, for use upon a desk or table; and inwhich there is provided means 5 for producing a suction upon the cigarette so that a positive lighting of the cigarette or the like is insured.

Other ob'ects and advantages of my invention will appear in the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein I have shown by way of illustration and not of limitation a preferred embodiment of my invention.

In these drawings- Fig. 1 is an end elevation of my device wlth parts broken away to expose certain interior details,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentar elevation of my improv line II-II of Fig. 4,

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 taken along line IIIIII of Fig. 4,

Fig. 4 is a front view in section taken along line IV-IV of Fig. 3, and- Fig. 5 is a rear view in section taken along line V-V of Fig. 3.

Referring novc particularl to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, it will be seen that my evice comprises a base 10 upon which is mounted a su1table housing 11. This housing 11 is rovmea with a cover 12 and is provided wit a diagonally disposed partition 13 which forms a compartment beneath the cover 12 for the reception of a lurality of cigarettes such as are illustrated y dotted lines in Fig. 3. Co

, sectional view in device taken along operating. with the diagonall disposed plate 13, there is also shown in ig. 3 a feeder plate 14 which serves to discharge the cigarettes one at a time from the compartment formed as above into a curved recess 15 formed at the lower end of the plate 13. 'l'he recessed ortion 15 of the. plate 13 is provided wit a pair of openings 16 (see Fig. 4) through which kicker plates 17 project to kick the cigarette out of this recess and de- 55 posit it upon a pair of hook-shaped brackets 18 which are adapted to hold the cigarette in 7 a position where it will be lighted and from which position it may be removed when desired by the smoker. The kicker plates 17 are mounted upon a rod 19 which extends through the housin 11 between two ivotal levers. ,20 arrange at both ends t ereof. These levers 20 are pivoted near the front edge of the housing 11 and one of them is splined to a shaft 21 which carries a manually operated lever 22 which is arranged in a position where it can be conveniently depressed b the user. The levers 20 are also connects with the feeder plate 14 b means 7 of links 23 so that when the kicker p ates are moved upwardly the feeder plate 14 will be operated to deposit another cigarette upon the recess 15 when the kicker plates 17 return to their inoperative position.

From the above it will be seen that I have provided a means whereby cigarettes may be discharged one at a time from a receptacle and into a position where they may be removed by the user.

The hook-shaped brackets 18 are shown as arranged so as to incline the cigarette. By referrmg to Fig. 4 of the drawings, it will be seen that there is arranged adjacent the lowermost bracket-a suction cup 24 into cooperative relation with which the end of cigarette is adapted to lie. In this view of the drawings it will also be seen that I have provided adjacent theother end of the cigarette an automatic lighter means 25. In this particular showing the lighter means is illustrated as similar to one of the standard well-known pocket flint lighters, the fuel containing chamber, however, being somewhat modified so as to provide for a greater capacity of fuel. The operative part of this, lighter is shown as disposed in a compartment 26 having a circulation outlet 27.

By referring now to Figs. 1, 3, and 5, it will be seen that I have also provded in my improved device and beneath the partition 13, a bellows 28. This bellows 28 is supported at its upper end by means of brackets 29 and is provided with a stop 30 near the bottom thereof. A pipe 31 is also shown as connecting the intake end of the bellows with the suction cup 24 so that upon operation the bellows 28 will create a suction in this cup in a manner well known. WVhile I have shown the bellows 28 in the form of accordion pleated mechanism, I desire to have it understood that this bellows may be produced in several different forms as, for instance, it might consist of two cylinders which slide within each other. In the present instance, the bellows 28 is adapted to be compressed to expel the air therein and then slowly expanded to produce the suction required at the suction cup 24. In order to accomplish this operation, I provide upon the ends of the levers 20 a pair of inwardly projecting pawls 32 which engage outwardly projecting members 33 carried by the lower end of the bellows. It should be noted that these outwardly projecting members 33 are cut away at the point 34 so that, when the bellows has been substantially compressed, the pawls 32 will pass out of engagement with the members 33 and permit the bellows to expand either due to the weight of its parts or as a result of a spring which might be incorporated in the structure of the bellows.

Connected to the lower end of the bellows 28 I also show a link 35 in which there is provided an elongated slot 36. The link 35 is adapted by means of the slot 36 to cooperate with a pivoted lever 37 and rock the latter up and down, respectively, as the bellows is fully collapsed and fully extended. This lever 37 carries a member 38 which engages an operating portion 39 of the flame lighter so as to actuate the lighter and light the same at about the time the suction stroke of the bellows begins and extinguish the lighter after the suction stroke of the bellows has been completed. I11 connection with this point, attention is directed to Fig. 2, wherein it will be seen that the operating member 39 of the lighter 25 is provided with a plunger 40 which cooperates with a spring pressed ball 40 to retain the lighter in its lit position until the operating means 39 is given a positive upward actuation, which latter actuation is effected by means of the hook 41 in cooperation with the member 38 upon the lever 37.

As the lever 22 is actuated, it will be understood that the levers 20 will be moved upwardly about their pivots until the bellows is completely compressed. At this point, as previously stated, the pawls 32 will disengage the bellows and permit it to expand. This operation will leave the pawls 32 in their elevated position and, in order that they may again return to their original position below the members 33, I have mounted these pawls 32 so that they may hinge about a pivot 42 (as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5) and thus they will pass the outwardly projecting members 33 and come to rest in the position substantially where shown in this figure of the drawings.

In constructing my device, it will be seen that I have arranged inside oflthe housing 11 a pair of parallel spaced partitions 43 and 44 upon which the various parts of my mechanism are mounted and wherever moving parts project through these partitions, it will be understood that suitable arcuate slots are provided to facilitate such movement. In order to provide a firm support for the operating lever 22, I have also provided a closely spaced partition 45 between which one of the operating levers 20 is pivoted, this latter partition providing also a protection for the lever and support against the action of the flame of the lighter 25.

By referring again to Fig. 2, it will be noted that the lighter 25 is enclosed between the partition 43 and the outer end of the housing 10 by means of a partition 46 and that there is provided in the partition 43, adjacent the lighter, an opening 47 through which the flame thereof comes into contact with the end of the cigarette. A second opening 48 is also provided in the front of the housing 10 for the purpose of providing for a circulation of air through the lighter compartment, the exhaust outlet of this compartment being the opening 27 previously referred to.

The fact that flint lighters sometimes fail to ignite is well known and, in order to provide against any such contingency, I have provided an auxiliary handle 49 which projects outwardly from the side of the lighter operating means 39 so that the lighter can be operated independently of the cigarette discharging and bellows operating mechanism. In practice, it has been found that where the flint lighter has failed to ignite, it is possible to trip this auxiliary lever and light the lighter before the suction stroke of the bellows has been completed and thus a lighting of the cigarette has been effected even after it had failed to ignite on the initial operation of the lever 22.

The operation of my improved dispenser and lighter is as follows:

It will be assumed that the cigarette recep tacle contains a number of cigarettes and that the operator is desirous of obtaining one of them. Under these conditions, the operator will press downwardly upon the lever 22 and thus rock the levers 20upwardly and actuate the kicker plates so as to discharge a cigarette from the receptacle 15 into the hooked brackets 18. A further downward movement of the lever 22 will cause the levers-20 to compress the bellows and at the point where the slot 36 in the link attached to the bottom of the bellows comes in contact withthe lever 37 the member 38 thereupon will depress the lighter mechanism 39 and cause the lighter 25 to ignite. At substantially the same time, or preferably at an instant later, the pawls 32 upon the levers 20 will disengage the mem bers 33 upon the lower end of the bellows 28 and thus release the same, permitting it to expand, and in going so create a suction at the suction cup 24. Under these conditions, it will be readily seen'that, as a result of the suction produced at the suction cup 24, there will be a' circulation of air. created through the cigarette whichwill draw the flame of the lighter 25 into lighting engagement with the end thereof. After the bellows has ex tended itself to its full extent, the slot 36 in the link 35 will again come into cooperative relation with the lever 37 and rock this lever in'the reverse direction so that the member 38 thereupon will engage the hook 41 upon the lighter and extinguish the flame. As soon as this operation has been completed and the cigarette has become ignited, the operator can readily remove the cigarette by merely grasping the cigarette at its central point and remove the same from the brackets 18.

- From the above, it will be seen that I have provided a new, novel, and improved type of cigarette dispenser and lighter which is entirely self-contained and one which does not require any interfering connections such as a suction pipe connection or an electric conductor and, as a result, it will find considerable demand where a portable device is required.

While I have shown the preferred form of my invention as now known to me, it is to be understood that various changes may be made in its construction without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- In a cigarette dispenser and lighter, the combination of a container for holding a number of cigarettes, a mechanism for discharging-said cigarettes one at a time, a recepta'ele for receiving said cigarettes as they are discharged'from said container, a lighter at one end of said receptacle, a suction cup at the other end of said receptacle arranged to receivethe end of the cigarette, a suction producing means connected with said suction 

